Tire Pressure?
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From: North Carolina
Tire Pressure?
I'm a bit perplexed. I have 80 psi tires all the way around on my truck. Was hauling the horse for about four hours on Monday, so I filled up the tires and noticed the fronts were only at 50. Got annoyed and filled 'em up to about 75.
Looked at door sticker today and noticed that it specs for the front tires to be at 50 -- this seems strange to me. Do I need to go let air out of my tires? What is the reasoning behind this?
Looked at door sticker today and noticed that it specs for the front tires to be at 50 -- this seems strange to me. Do I need to go let air out of my tires? What is the reasoning behind this?
Last edited by wildlifer; Sep 9, 2009 at 08:05 PM. Reason: spelling
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Tire pressure is completely dependent on what tires you are running. That door tag is not worth anything unless you are running those exact tires.
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From: North Carolina
Good point...the dealer put the tires on, so they came with the truck. Too dark out to see what they are right now, I'll have to check tomorrow. Since they put them on, I'm assuming (for whatever that's worth) that they are standard highway tires for the F250. I think they are Uniroyals -- certainly not my choice, but I won't complain since I didn't buy them. It just seemed weird to me that you would run the front 30 lower than the back and wondered what folks on here found to be best. :-)
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From: Texas
The door tag says 50 up front because a lower tire pressure will give you a softer ride. There's nothing wrong with running more than 50 psi, and in my opinion, you're tires will last longer if you do. Higher air pressure in the tires will also give you better MPG's, but can wear out a cheap tire quicker also.
I usually run about 60 - 65 psi in my front tires and around 70 psi in the rear. When I haul a heavy load, I'll bump the front up to 70 and the rear to 80. I think 50 is too low and 80 is too bumpy for the front.
I usually run about 60 - 65 psi in my front tires and around 70 psi in the rear. When I haul a heavy load, I'll bump the front up to 70 and the rear to 80. I think 50 is too low and 80 is too bumpy for the front.
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Thanks Chris, that's kind of what I thought. I like the drive better on the harder tires as well. At first I thought the dealer was trying to be all sneaky thinking I wouldn't like a "truck" ride, then I saw the door so guess they were going by that.
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The door tag says 50 up front because a lower tire pressure will give you a softer ride. There's nothing wrong with running more than 50 psi, and in my opinion, you're tires will last longer if you do. Higher air pressure in the tires will also give you better MPG's, but can wear out a cheap tire quicker also.
I usually run about 60 - 65 psi in my front tires and around 70 psi in the rear. When I haul a heavy load, I'll bump the front up to 70 and the rear to 80. I think 50 is too low and 80 is too bumpy for the front.
I usually run about 60 - 65 psi in my front tires and around 70 psi in the rear. When I haul a heavy load, I'll bump the front up to 70 and the rear to 80. I think 50 is too low and 80 is too bumpy for the front.
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80 rear and 65 fronts seem to be the ticket for me... I can't get a set to last more than 30,000 miles though
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Remember it completely depends on what tires you run. If you run MT's and you air them up to high you will get better mileage, but will wear the center out of them way early.
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Wow -- those are skinny ones. Mine came with 265/75/16 LR Es. I have Good Year Wranger Silent Armors on now and I really like them. I run pretty much what Chris does empty and rotate them every other oil change. So far, so good. I have almost a year on them now and they look about new.
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From: Belgrade, MT
Tire Preasures
have done alot of research on tire preasures over the years and found that by running all 4 tires at 45 - 55 psi when not towing will about double the tire life for me, as I run on alot of gravel/wash board roads.
The logic is that hard/high psi tires bounce and spin alot on the gravel roads, softer inflates let it keep grab/contact, thus not wearing the tread off. I always run the fronts at that PSI range, just put the rears at 80psi when I hook up the horse trailer(22 foot goose neck with 6 horses and 2 weeks worth of gear is heavy)
The logic is that hard/high psi tires bounce and spin alot on the gravel roads, softer inflates let it keep grab/contact, thus not wearing the tread off. I always run the fronts at that PSI range, just put the rears at 80psi when I hook up the horse trailer(22 foot goose neck with 6 horses and 2 weeks worth of gear is heavy)
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From: So Cal Highland
I am not sure, but I thought that running tires beyond the pressure indicated on the side wall of the tire was dangerous. And that the danger was magnified if you put too much pressure in the tire and then also put a heavy load on it.
I am all for more mileage, but if we over inflate, are we doing it at the risk of blowing out our tires?
I am all for more mileage, but if we over inflate, are we doing it at the risk of blowing out our tires?
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From: North Carolina
Yeah, Joe, I figured the dealer went with the cheapies but I'll use them up and in the meantime will save some cash so I can get real ones when they wear out.
Well, they are not over inflated, Terry, I never go there (all four are 80's). I run mostly on blacktop except for farm entrance roads and parking in pastures at horse shows. I'll back the front ones back down to around 65-70ish then, that sounds like the consensus. Thanks for your input, just wanted to make sure there wasn't some odd engineering reason why the fronts needed to be lower -- after all they are always carrying the engine weight.
Well, they are not over inflated, Terry, I never go there (all four are 80's). I run mostly on blacktop except for farm entrance roads and parking in pastures at horse shows. I'll back the front ones back down to around 65-70ish then, that sounds like the consensus. Thanks for your input, just wanted to make sure there wasn't some odd engineering reason why the fronts needed to be lower -- after all they are always carrying the engine weight.
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From: Benton,KY
I worked for Continental Tire as a tire engineer that supplies the OEM generals for the superduty trucks. Ford uses tire pressure to compensate for ride defiencies in there suspension. As has been said low pressure, softer ride. The best way to set tire pressure is to adjust it for load where you just get start to see the tread print narrow in from the sides. This helps eliminate the center from early wearing.
Also higher pressure equals longer tire life. Running tires at low pressure under load and speed equals disaster (remember Firestone on Explorers).
One additional comment, the size difference from 235/85/16 to 265/75/16 is only approximately 1inch in width, the heights are practically the same.
Also higher pressure equals longer tire life. Running tires at low pressure under load and speed equals disaster (remember Firestone on Explorers).
One additional comment, the size difference from 235/85/16 to 265/75/16 is only approximately 1inch in width, the heights are practically the same.